A Dangerous Game
by starflight101
Summary: River is thrown into a world of magic, where she meets the members of the Phoenix Order. Suddenly, gifted with magical power and for once, a clear head, she must find a way to get back to her own reality before time runs out.
1. Chapter 1

I'm dreadful at spelling so I wont use spell names, but you'll get the picture.

Hope you enjoy, it's been a while.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Firefly. If I owned Harry Potter or Firefly I would be a very rich person indeed.

**A Dangerous Game**

Chapter One

He sat in the centre of the room, his large oak desk stretching far to the sides. He still had on yesterday's robes and every so often would peek a look out the stain glass windows to behold the beauty of the beginning day. He had so much to do and it was at this moment that he wished there was a spell to double him, and then he would really get some work done. Maybe if he had the time, he would create such a spell but thought perhaps it was not such a good idea anyway.

The sudden clomp of footsteps echoed from below and he waited as the approaching person made their way to him, their feet picking up pace as they got closer. As the door burst open he was relieved to see that it was only Kingsley Shacklebolt, most likely here to tell him to get to bed. He forgot to do that sometimes and he his age, he had to confess, he couldn't really miss much sleep.

"Albus, I've come with some disturbing news." He huffed out, trying to catching his breath. Intrigued Albus leaned forward, waiting for him to continue.

"As you know I routinely do thorough security checks within the muggle government. I grew suspicious of the activities of a young Mr. Triskin who had been hired as part of their government's new strategic planning operations. When I finally managed to douse his drink with the truth potion he said several things which alarmed me."

Albus raised his hands so Kingsley could again catch his breath. "Let me guess, he likes men. I've told you again and again, you need to find a wife." All this he managed to say with a straight face and was glad to see the tiny smile appear momentarily before quickly shaking it off.

"Albus, several months ago the separate faction hidden within the muggle government kidnapped a wizard."

Albus let this unusual shocking piece of information sink in. Had he heard right?

"It appears there are more muggles then we realized who are aware of us but that is not all, they are trying use his energy!" Kingsley paced the room, trying to judge the older man's reaction. Albus was, as usual, stone faced.

"Do you mean to say, if I understand you correctly, that there are muggles who are trying to harness a wizards inner core magic?" Albus asked to which Kingsley nodded rigorously.

"No such a thing can be done." Albus stated matter of factly.

"Mr. Triskin admitted otherwise." Kingsley replied

"Do you also mean to say that they can indeed do such a thing?"

"There was little else he could tell me. He did not know the full situation but it would seem so."

Kingsley couldn't help but stare at the ground feeling as though he had failed the older wizard. He had let this slip through the cracks.

"I knew no indication of this, thank you Kingsley for bringing this to me; we must deal with this matter urgently." Albus praised, knowing how Kingsley felt.

"Do you wish me to summon the Order?"

"Yes. Have them meet at Sirius's; I must make an urgent errand." And with that he elegantly rose to his feet and followed Kingsley out the door.

***** THREE MONTHS PREVIOUS *****

River Tam had awoken from a restless sleep, her head tossing and turning as if to the beat of drums. Fire, she dreamt of an inferno, twisting and licking at her skin, digging into her mind and burning her.  
Gasping she shot upright, mentally touching the hum of the ship, Serenity. It gave her peace where she could not otherwise find any. Knowing she would be unable to get back to sleep she pushed her feet over her bed, sneaking past her brothers room effortlessly. She moved down the ships corridors with ease and grace, her arms moving in a fluid motion as if treading water. It didn't matter to her where she went; just to walk around uninterrupted was a gift. But it never lasted, and interrupted she was.

The tingle of energy fizzed in her mouth and she turned her head sharply, knowing instantly the source. It was like nothing she'd ever felt before. Energy, living but machine. Forced and flowing. But it was weak and getting weaker.

Not wanting it to leave she reached out her hand if only to touch it before it died away, instead it engulfed her and suddenly she was fighting for air. It was suffocating her! It tingled and buzzed up her arms, ripping through her shoulders and chest until she could no longer draw breath, until she was no longer there.

"What the hell happened?" Brendan yelled trying to be heard over the screeching of the alarm systems. "And can somebody turn that dam sound off!"

People zipped and zapped all over the place, running for instrument to instrument, not that they could tell you much. They were in undiscovered territory, either that or all documentation on witches and wizards had been destroyed.

Brendan huffed to himself. Just the thought that witches and wizards were real was enough for anyone to pull a face and shake their head.

One of the medical staff came hurrying over, a grim look plastered on his young features. "It's Mr. Magical, he's dead."

Brendan's head snapped around to the large glass double doors to the right of the white sterile room they were currently in. Mr. Magical was the name given to the wizard they had managed to captures more than 2 months back. It hadn't been easy. A specialized team had been set up to monitor activities that may hit someone from the public could be, ohhh, less than normal. When they'd found a target, Mr. Magical, he had been in the process of picking various herbs in his back garden and seeing their opportunity, had wasted no time. He had been drugged and a thorough search of is house hand gone underway. The only suspicious item they had found had been a perfectly carved stick in his pocket. This had confirmed what they suspected he was. They, of course, couldn't be sure that items in his house had been magically charmed to look like simple everyday normal objects so that had been a bust. Never the less, they had what they wanted, him.

When they'd first brought him to the underground testing facility, he was given a square room adjacent to where they were making their energy converter. If they could get it working, it was going to make ordinary people, or as they were called them, muggles, into witches and wizards. A vital plan, they had been told, if the wizards wanted to start a war or a power play, what could us ordinary people do to defend ourselves? And so this project had been awoken and here Brendan was, making sure everything was going to schedule.  
"Sir, what should we do?"

Brendan had forgotten the medic was still there. "Put him in the morgue." He waved his hand, shooing the man away. "Wait, how did he die?"

"It was that machine. We don't know what it did, but it killed him." The medic sounded angry.  
Brendan turned his gaze to the man, his look steely and cool. "This machine is why we are here, never forget that."

A sudden flicker of electricity flashed in the corner of his eyes. Brendan's head shot around to see a blue crescendo of light dancing in the centre of the room. It was beautiful and he had no doubt to its cause. The machine was working.

The energy continued to grow filling the space and the works looked on backing away a few inches at a time. Brendan watched transfixed as the space shuddered and the body of a young women dropped to the ground.

Her hair was long and black, framing her now extremely pale fragile face. She couldn't have been more then 18. She wore a blue flowing dress which went, oddly enough, with combat boots. She didn't stir from her spot.

"What are you all waiting for? Get to work." Brendan ordered, unable to take his eyes away. "And someone tell me why there is a girl in the middle of the room."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

He wasn't in the mood for this. It may be true that he spent most of his time running around in circles, trying to stay ahead of his pathetic excuse of a life but still, he wasn't in the mood for this.  
Severus Snape stood on the edge of an impeccably well kept muggle lawn. The grass trimmed to just the right length, the green grass vibrant and sharp. He wondered why they took the time to make everything look so perfect.

He heard the murmuring of the other Order members as they too shifted about, waiting for the go ahead to enter the seemingly ordinary house. Dumbledore had called in a few members for assistance in a most alarming matter. Though they had all been briefly informed on what was believed to be inside that quiet ordinary house, Severus still had to try to wrap his head around it. He'd never expected muggles would be so stupid and yet so smart to try and turn a muggle into a wizard. It had never been tried, mostly because muggles were so ignorant. But to kidnap a wizard? He didn't think very highly of the man who had allowed himself to fall into crazy muggle hands.

Their task was a simple yet long one. First they would knock out everyone inside, move them to the same room and use the truth potion on them, get them to spill every last detail about their activities. After they were through with the muggles their minds would be wiped and they would keep an eye on them in case someone with more information tried to contact them. They then had to find the wizard that had been captured and destroy all evidence about this 'energy convertor' they had heard about. That was all Severus was needed for. Of course they still had to find out who had authorized the go ahead to create the machine and that would have to been done inside the government. A job for Kingsley no doubt.

Feeling his muscles stiffen again he moved his shoulders back and flexed his arms, not that anyone would notice as they were all currently using a cover spell.

Snape had used a spell that would detect and uncover all muggle monitoring devices within a certain area and deactivate them. There had been numerous gadgets hidden around the outside of the house, motion sensors, heat sensors, the muggles left nothing out. What was strange though, was that they currently had no real guards on the lookout. He could detect no movement inside; this told him something wasn't right. It shouldn't be this quiet.

Finally the signal was given, a mental ring sounded in his mind and they all silently took off. As they had to go in pairs, Severus had been stuck with Arthur Weasley. The man was infuriating. His constant need for talk was, to say the least, maddening, but Severus clenched his jaw shut and they somehow stealthily moved into the bowels of the building.

They easily found a large steel elevator hidden in what looked like a closet that took them straight down, unusual to have an elevator in a house. When the doors opened they stepped into a lobby type waiting room, it had white bare walls with the occasional potted plant to add some colour to the room and some comfortable looking couches pushed into a private corner. A reception desk stood tall in the middle which was currently unmanned and a corridor stretched both left and right, doors lining them.

He walked quickly down the left corridor; Arthur in his wake and with a small spell, the first door flew open unhindered. Again he was struck by the quietness and knew, before the door opened, that it would be void of people. Unless they were all hold up somewhere else, he would guess that the building had already been evacuated, and by the looks of the paper strewn across the floor, quite quickly too.

He glanced at some of the sheets which were scrawled with messy handwriting and little diagrams full of equations. He moved onto the next room and found the same thing.

"Severus!" Arthur called out to him from another room, "I've found someone!"

Abandoning his own room he followed Arthur's voice to the door beside the end door of the corridor. Rushing inside it took a moment to make sense of what he was seeing. A white hospital bed sat in the middle of the room, its occupant hooked up to several muggle medical contraptions. She was pale, young, thin, her jet black hair surrounding her face in tangles. For a moment he watched the slow rise and fall of her chest before finally kicking himself into gear.

"I thought we were looking for a man?" Arthur commented in shock.

"Perhaps we will find him in another room." Snape answered obviously.

"Right, I'll, ugh, keep looking." Arthur stuttered, most likely wondering what each of the machines did as they bleeped and flashed. Arthur had a peculiar interest in muggle technology that most would deem unhealthy.

Snape moved slightly closer to the bed and the unconscious girl, unsure what he should do. He knew little about muggle medical technology except that it was mostly barbaric. Muggles cut people open with knives, poked them with needles and shoved incredible amounts of drugs into their blood, a wizard healers' way was through potions and spells, unobtrusive, giving the body an invasive way to heal. To see a witch or wizard plugged into muggle contraptions was, disturbing and for the unfortunate occupant, would be most alarming. For Snape was fairly certain that she was indeed a witch. He could feel her core magic, weak and faint and wavering, but still there. That was how a witch or wizard could tell each other apart from an ordinary muggle. But still, he felt something odd about her. Something he couldn't put his mind on.

A stumbling noise could be heard as Arthur re-entered the room, his face slightly flushed. "The last room, it's been completely cleared out."

Snape knew then that they were too late. The muggles were gone and they had taken their devise with them.

He headed out the room and back down the corridor they'd come in, Arthur on his heels unsure where they were going. It didn't take them long to find Remus and Kingsley. They were in a cold steel room, a metal slab stuck in the centre and steel doors covering the right side. Several of the steel doors were open but there was one that had a large sliding tray pulled out, a man whose colour had been lost long ago lay unmoving. Snape recognized him immediately as the wizard they had been sent to find. A wizard who had been killed by these muggles.

"There is another witch here." Snape broke the silence and Remus looked at him sharply.

"Dumbledore said only one wizard was taken." He furrowed his brow.

"It would appear otherwise. It would also seem that this place has been evacuated earlier today. The machine is not here."

"But they would leave a witch here?" Kingsley asked, his voice betraying the calm he had managed to impose.

"No doubt they left in a hurry, taking only what could carry. I wouldn't expect them to return." Snape surmised.

"You think try knew we were coming?" Arthur who had been extremely quite at last stepped into the room.

"Yes." Was all Snape could answer with. They had known and he knew then they weren't simply dealing with some power hungry muggles, these people were smart and dangerous, and they were playing a very dangerous game.

Brendan was not a likable guy. He had come to accept this over the years that some might get slightly insulted when he cut them down. Of course in this case he didn't need to do that. He had no more than half a dozen people hidden within the government who knew of the little project he was running. The less people who knew, the less people to screw up.

There were rules. These had to be obeyed at all times or you were out, and not just out of a job.  
One of the major rules was contact, which had to be maintained four times a day. Every six hours you had to report in, fail to do so and when you showed up for work the next day, that building would be empty and you would have a very short life span indeed. These rules had been reinforced for security, for Brendan knew of the wizard world. He knew of the spells and potions that could not stop a muggle from hiding any secret. A drop of truth potion here, confess all their sins and then wipe their memory and no one would know, except the wizards and witches that is.

Contact had been broken with one of his supporters. He had failed to call in at the appointed time a full hour out. Of course by the time he did they were long gone. Not knowing how much time they had, all they could take was the machine. The girl and dead wizard and the rest of their minor projects had to be left because there was no going back.

So here they were, in another place, resetting themselves back and adjusting once again. At least this time they didn't have to start from scratch. The energy converter worked, now all they needed was another wizard.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

He hated the house. Absolutely hated it. It brought back memories from his childhood he'd much rather forget but, it would seem, he would be stuck there for a fair while longer.

Sirius paced back and forth at the front door to number 12 Grimmuald Place. He was waiting for the return of the Phoenix Order members who were currently on a mission dealing with muggles who had it in their minds to try and make themselves into wizards. When Dumbledore had come over briefly to explain the situation, he had been quite certain that such a thing could not be done and everyone had agreed most ardently. The idea was more than ridiculous it was hilarious beyond tears. Still it was worrying that these same muggles had managed to capture a wizard and hold him, it was enough to get Dumbledore to send out 4 order members to check if it were really true. Sometimes even the truth potion could not be trusted if they were being set up by someone else entirely where they could not the full story.

A loud 'pop' echoed through the house as Arthur, Snape and Remus apparated on the door step. Panic fluttered through his mind as he couldn't find Kingsley, had something happened?

"Where's Kingsley, what happened?" He asked in a rush before he fully took in the scene before him.  
Arthur was at the front, carrying a small black briefcase, crisp silver buckles clasping the case closed. It was odd to see Arthur with something new and expensive looking. But it was the young women Snape was cradling in his arms that took his full attention. She was obviously unconscious as no one in their right mind would let themselves be carried around by that man, and she looked awfully pale.  
Snape immediately moved to the couch where he deposited the girl and finally turned to meet Sirius's icy stare.

"I thought it was a wizard that had been taken, not a witch." He looked at them with a quizzical gaze.

"Obviously it would appear they have captured her as well." Snape replied snidely.

"Now's not the time." Remus cut in before it became a heated argument and Snape, turning his back to Sirius kneeled down, pulled out his wand and muttered a spell, moving his wand down the girl's body.

Deciding Sirius would get nowhere talking to Snape he turned to Arthur. "What do you have there? What happened?" He asked again.

Before Arthur could answer there was another loud "pop" and Kingsley stood behind them, Dumbledore at his side.

"Good you're all here, now we can discuss the important matters at hand." He managed to say this lightly but Sirius saw the weight and worries behind his eyes. And so they replayed those evenings' events.

They had observed the house, finding it too quite had gone inside to find all the muggles already gone and haven taking the machine with them. But that was all they had managed to take. They'd left behind a fair few experiments, which Arthur had shrunk and put into the briefcase he'd found and was now carrying around. Kingsley had taken the dead wizard to St. Mungo's where testing could be done to see what had been then death of him and reported to Dumbledore the task was done while Snape had grabbed the witch they'd found in the other room. Remus had cleaned up all other trace of the muggles and the house was now completely empty.

"And you think they'll try this again?" Sirius asked shaking his head.

"I have reason to believe so." Dumbledore replied gravely.

There was a moments silence before Snape finally righted himself. "The girl appears to be fine, but I am not a licensed healer."

"I hope you wouldn't mind Sirius, if she stayed here for a few days, at least until she awakens and can tell us her side of the story?" Dumbledore looked at Sirius who gave his hearty consent.

"I'll make a bed up."

* * *

Her mind came to her slowly, in bits and pieces. At first she was frightened, new smells, new sounds and feelings but she began to feel calm, a peace she hadn't felt for far too long. It took her a moment to realize what was wrong.

Snapping her eyes open she looked about the room. It was dismal and dark. The curtains looked like they hadn't been pulled open in many years and the room was mostly bare except for a small wooden desk, the closest, a trunk at the foot of her bed and a lone empty picture behind her, rank with age. It seemed odd to her, to paint a portrait picture and not have a subject standing in the middle. She stared at it for the longest time, as if knowing the answer to a question but unable to bring it to the surface. She felt she knew there was something missing until she realized SHE didn't know anything, someone else did.

She pushed the sheets from her bed and standing upright, made her way to the door. As graceful as a dance, she placed her hands on the door, palm towards, and pressed her ear to the wood. She could hear light murmurs downstairs, the rattle of cups and the scraps of chairs. And she felt something too. Something she remembered feeling before... before. Suddenly it clicked, it was the energy she'd felt on Serenity. The only difference was that it didn't have the same mix of bio energy and machine energy. It was pure, untainted, flowing like liquid, and she felt it from the occupants down the stairs. She could feel it around herself as well, but it wasn't like theirs. It clung to her pores, forced down her throat giving it an awful metallic taste. This was the energy she had felt the first time. It was inside her.

More disturbingly she could feel the remnants of who the energy had come from, like he stood with her, clinging to her for life. He pressed into her mind, suppressing all the feelings she couldn't, all the feelings she hadn't been able to hold back for three and a half years. For the first time since she had gone to the academy she felt whole.

Breaking from her unbounded joy she wanted to shout, to yell and leap at her new-found freedom. She wanted to thank these people for their help.

River threw open the door and flew downstairs, her fingers reaching for the closed doorknob as their voices became understandable.

As they spoke their words changed. Though they said everything would be fine, it was like they whispered to her the truth, that everything would not be fine. They had to find a group of people and they didn't know if they could. They were embarrassed that muggles could outsmart them because they were wizards!

Her hand wavered. Was this what she had been feeling? The energy came from them because they were wizards?

The door she had been standing behind was suddenly flung open and she came into view of the four people she had been listening to. Surprise flittered across their faces before the women Molly, she knew her name the moment she wondered, stood and rushed to her side.

"My dear girl, what are you doing out of bed?" Her voice was sweet and laced with affection.

"I awoke." River replied.

"I'm so sorry dear, were we talking too loud?" Molly ushered her to a chair and River sat uncomfortably, feeling everyone's eyes. "Can I get you anything?"

She shook her head and looked into whom she knew as Remus's eyes. "They didn't see you." She told him. He looked at her puzzled so she elaborated. "The other werewolves pack."

Remus's stance changed immediately, his shoulders tensed and he pulled back. "I'm not sure I understand what...,"

"Greyback, he didn't see you. You were worried." River cut in before he finished.

There was a deathly silence that hung in the air, Remus continued to stare at her, unable to find anything to say so Sirius jumped in.

"Who are you?"

"River, my name is River Tam." She answered, her gaze still transfixed to Remus.

"Do you remember what happened?" Arthur asked as Molly set a glass of water down beside River.

She finally broke the gaze, turning to Arthur. "They took me. I was on Serenity and they took me."

Arthur scrunched up her eyes in confusion. "I'm not sure I understand what you mean."

"I was somewhere, and then I wasn't."

"You were taken, yes, you were captured by muggles." Sirius was getting a little irritated. "Do you know who took you, or why?"

River shook her head. She remembered very little which was odd.

Remus took his leave and headed for another room for find some peace and quiet, Sirius followed him as Arthur and Molly continued to ask River questions but it clearly looked like her mind was on another planet.

"Remus?" Sirius knew his friend too well, something was bothering him.

"It's nothing." He tried to squash it before Sirius could delve deeper.

"Remus."

A pause.

"Greyback. I was thinking about Greyback when she came in." Remus gave in.

"What she said before?" Sirius tried to fit the pieces together.

"Yesterday, before we went to the muggle building, I was trying to talk to another werewolf. He had just joined Greyback's pack and I was trying to talk him out of it but he wouldn't listen. The next thing I knew the rest of his pack showed up and I had moments to get out. Ever since then all I keep wondering about was if he saw me." Remus ran his fingers through his knotted hair, breathing out a sigh.

"Did she...?" Sirius didn't need to finish the question.

"No, she didn't say a spell, she doesn't even have a wand." He shook his head. "Add to the fact that she's most likely been drugged for days, maybe weeks. She couldn't have known."

Remus threw his hands up. "It's probably nothing."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Sirius nodded but both were not convinced.


	4. Chapter 4

Hope you enjoy this next chapter, it's a bit short, I know. Any opinions are welcome.

**Chapter Four**

At that moment River sat in the room that had been appointed to her, undisturbed by the others except for the common curtsy of Molly who brought her regular meals. It had only been a few days but they were expecting more arrivals, or more particularly that of the Weasley children. Molly Weasley had a lot of children, four of which would spend the next two weeks in this place followed by even more to come.

With little conversation from the wizards and witches below she had directed her attention elsewhere. On the first floor there was an incredibly impressive library, all the books, of course, were on witches and wizards. She had taken many stacks up into her room and consumed them one by one in quick succession. She knew at this stage of course that she was in a world she ought not to have been. When she was being questioned she had been asked about some kind of energy converter the 'muggles' or non-magic folk had been constructing. She knew nothing about it though and was of little help; still, if her theory was correct, it may have been the cause of her being in this world.

It seemed strange to her though, in all the books she read, they constantly criticized the muggles way of doing things. Simple tasks that were easily solved by use of magic, while muggles struggled; the wizards looked on in amusement. Witches and wizards looked down at the muggles as their inferiors and yet when the muggles made a machine that threatened a balance of power, the wizards panic, trying to find and destroy it. Muggles were dreadfully underestimated.

Still, if she had any hope of getting back to Serenity, she also had to find that machine and reverse the damage it had done. She needed to talk to the Captain of sorts, whom she had heard been called Albus Dumbledore. The only problem was, it appeared he didn't come around often, as he had many constant errands to attend to.

A sudden commotion beneath her floorboards sounded the arrival of the Weasley children and she smiled as her mind automatically touched theirs. She had found it easier to read people lately; it was no longer jumbled into a mess, but clear and crisp.

First there were the twins, Fred and George, a pair of trouble makers but true at heart and stood making everyone laugh. Then there was the Ron, the youngest boy, he was 15 and much more self interested. River couldn't help but hear his constant worries on another boy, whom he considered his best friend, Harry. The last Weasley child was a girl, Ginny and only a year younger the Ron. She was extremely intelligent and curious.

Sighing and sitting back she popped open another one of her books and waited for them to all come and introduce themselves, something they had all been told could wait until she was ready to come out.

Remus sat in the centre end chair at the dining table next to Sirius who at that moment was fiddling with the daily profit paper. He'd already read and re-read the articles a dozen times but still felt the need to read them again.

"It's not going to tell you anything new until the next edition comes out." Remus joked at him. He pulled a face.

"He hasn't done anything." Sirius shook the battered paper in his hands. They all knew what he was talking about. Lord Voldemort, who had risen only a few months ago from the dead had yet to make any public move. This was concerning indeed. They had no idea what he was up to beside the whole 'make an evil army' thing. Been there, done that. It was effective though, he had to admit.

Remus sighed, they'd been over this before and seemed to need to go over it every time the paper arrived. At the moment, there was simply nothing they could do.

"Where are those children of mine?" Molly Weasley grumbled as she set the table ready for supper.

"I think there up in Miss Tam's room." Arthur provided.

All four Weasley children where indeed up in River's room having introduced themselves and then made themselves comfortable while she was reading.

Knowing the others felt uncomfortable with her there after what she had said when they'd first meet she usually kept to herself, hidden in the room. She doubted though, that she would get away with it so easily now.

"You have half the library up there." Ginny joked as she flipped through one of her Quiddish magazines, her legs folded under her atop of River's bed.

"Half those books are all boring wizard history, don't know what's so interesting." Ron was saying as he played with something River couldn't quite make out.

"I've never read them before." River stated matter of fact.

"I've got some magazines if you want to read those instead." Ginny offered.

River thought on that for a moment. "Do they say anything on Voldemort?"

At the sound of that name the rooms light chatter died suddenly and all eyes were turned to her. She realized she had said a taboo word and she felt feelings of shock around her.

"I don't understand." She looked at them puzzled. "Everyone wonders the same thing."

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked confused.

"You want to know what Voldemort (again they all flinch) is doing. And yet in the books he is dead. Why do you worry over someone who is dead?" River felt she was missing something important in the middle.

"You don't know who HE is?" Ginny asked giving her a strange look. River slowly shook her head. The books she had read had lightly touched the subject, only noting him as a wizard with terrible powers who had killed many but was now dead.

"I only know what the books say." River admitted finally.

"Were you raised by muggles?" Ron asked but not nastily. "My best friend was, that's Harry Potter." He said his name as though this Harry was famous.

"My family are muggles. There are no witches or wizards where I come from." River turned her attention back to her worn book.

"No witches or wizards?" George chipped in.

"Well no wonder you don't know HIM!" Fred beamed in amusement.

"Where do you come from?" Ginny asked, trying to keep her interest to a minimum.

"Serenity is my home."

"Serenity?"

"She sails in the sky. I miss the black." River tried to ignore the looks they gave each other, unfortunately she never missed anything. She wished she'd never said anything at all but she could never seem to stop herself.

* * *

When everyone else had retired for the night Remus and Sirius sat in the kitchen talking. Sirius as usual was wondering when Harry, his Godson, would be able to join them while Remus's mind stayed focused on River. He'd managed to have a light hearted talk to the Weasley children and asked their opinions of River, hoping he didn't sound weird. Ginny in particular had told him of the conversation they had about her home, her lack of any knowledge on the wizard world and that she was from a place where witches and wizards didn't exist, in the sky! As he thought, his concerns went unnoticed by his friend.  
"Those muggles better be treating him right." Sirius was saying as Remus nodded absently. "I swear Remus, you're never fully here." Sirius pushed him and Remus broke from his thoughts to stop and break his fall.

"I'm sorry Sirius, I was just thinking."

"About River?" Sirius gave him a knowing look.

"She says the strangest things, like the end of a conversation she thinks she's having with us. And the Weasley children said she spoke oddly too."

"Do you think the muggles got to her?"

"I don't know what to think. She hasn't even asked for a wand." Remus thought that highly strange. The first thing after an attack and all you want is your weapon.

"Albus said he'd come in later tonight, around now. Maybe he'll have some answers"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

It was getting late. He was, at that moment, heading to number 12 Grimmuald place. He had hoped he would have found some answers but now all he had was more questions. No, he would have to find the answers elsewhere, and the only one who could answer them was the girl in question.  
He focused, setting his mind for Sirius's house and turned, appearing the next moment behind closed doors. Not more than five seconds later Sirius and Remus almost jumped into the room and he knew he would not get a moments peace unless he told them everything he, so far, knew. So he summoned together all the order members, whom promptly arrived and they all squished into the tiny narrow dining room.

"As you all know I have been trying to track down information on the origins of this machine the muggles have built. Suffice to say we have made little progress on the matter. It would appear they have gone deeper into hiding and I doubt they will make contact with anyone they think has been compromised." Dumbledore explained.

"They knew we were on to them before we made our move." Kingsley said and everyone nodded.

"I do not believe they were informed by anyone, more that they have certain procedures in place, a strict security net in which we were detected." Dumbledore continued. "We do, at least, have several possible places they might have chosen as their refuge, which will all be checked thoroughly." He handed around sheets of parchment, his tiny pristine scrawl etched with different locations that were suspected.

"Do they know what happened to that wizard?" Molly asked from the far side of the room squashed behind her husband. "What did they do to him?"

Everyone fell silent and turned to Dumbledore for the answer. "His core energy was drained, ripped from him. He died from not just this, but also from the shock."

A range of looks crossed their faces, from outrage to horror to anger and even disbelief.

"So it works?" Sirius finally asked. "It drained his energy, but can they give it to a muggle?"  
"That is the other matter I wished to discuss. It has to do with the young women, has she been able to answer any questions?" Dumbledore looked at the four in particular who had been staying in the house with her.

"We tried discussing it, but she said she didn't know anything. One minute she was in her home, the next she woke up here. She says she can't remember what happened." Arthur replied.

"Did she say from where she came?" Dumbledore narrowed on Arthur.

"Serenity, the Wesley children said she spoke of her home called Serenity. But they said she didn't make much sense. She said it was in the sky." Remus remembered the odd conversation he'd had with Ginny. "Also that there weren't any witches or wizards there and she had never heard of them until now."

Remus and Dumbledore shared a knowing look. A look which had, behind them, the unwilling suspicion that involved the young River Tam.

Snape was quick to see the look and instantly caught on. "You think she's a muggle made witch."

More silence as his words hit with all intended force. So it really was too late. The muggles HAD made this energy converter and it worked. The proof, it would seem, had been sleeping upstairs all along.

"She couldn't be. She knows about the wizard world, she knew Remus was a werewolf!" Molly tried to reason.

"Dose she?" Nymphadora Tonks spoke up for the first time that evening.

"She told me so, and I know no one mentioned it to her."

"What makes you think she is a muggle, everything else aside?" Moody huffed, his good eye trained on the old wizard.

"Records. On her there are none. No River Tam attended any wizard school, nor has there been any witch reported missing matching her description. I have also tried checking the muggle records but their way of storing information is most difficult to get to and always incomplete." He answered with a weary tone. "I believe it is time that I spoke to Miss. Tam in person. If you please, Mrs. Weasley, ask her to meet me in the library room."

* * *

It was getting late and River was more than ready to get some sleep, but she knew that at that moment, she was wanted elsewhere. The elusive Albus Dumbledore had finally shown up and he wanted to talk to her. In other words, he wanted the answers he had not been able to find.

River moved to the door as Molly stepped lightly up the stairs and River opened it before she did.

"Oh, your awake. Albus Dumbledore would like a word if that's alright." She smiled sweetly.

River nodded and Molly led her to the library and left as River turned the handle and entered.  
Dumbledore stood, stooping over a small pile of magical creature's history tombs that River had already read and had planned to put back later. His long colourful cloak just a little longer then his white hair and his beard equally impressive. He was a lot older then she had thought him to be.

"Ah, my dear girl, it's good to see you looking well." He greeted her with all pleasantness as she stepped around the table that held the tombs, separating herself from his reach. "I hear you are getting along well, the Weasley's have a fondness for you."

River said nothing, waiting for him to get to the purpose of this 'meeting', though she already knew it.

"I am told you remember little about the events before you arrived here, can you tell me where you are from. I'm sure you have family that are worried for your safety." Dumbledore watched her closely.

It was then that she felt it, like a soft nudge in her mind. She snapped her head up from the books she had been looking at and stared into his deep eyes. "You cannot find them here because they are not here."

Dumbledore's smile flickered slightly, caught off guard by the mental wall she held erected in her mind effortlessly. "You are a mystery, Miss. Tam. I cannot find any record of you."

"And you will not. I do not belong here." River cut in again feeling his mental probe.

"Where do you belong?"

"On Serenity. I have to go back; my brother is waiting for me." River moved back towards the door. "I must find the energy converter, it needs to be undone. He can't go to where he's supposed to."

"Mr. Dervon? He was the wizard found dead in the building the muggles evacuated. Is that who you mean?" He couldn't help but step closer, trying to understand what she was getting at. He had assumed she was talking about the dead wizard, his magic was flowing from her pours.

"I need to find it, I don't have much time. I can't stay here."

"You're not a witch, are you?"

She continued to stare feeling the need to repeat herself again. She didn't like this man. Sure, he was the embodiment of good, pure power and wise decisions to boot but he had a one track mind. World wizard peace was defiantly something to boast about but you can never get there without sacrifices, and he had made plenty of those for other people. He kept a lot of secrets that she didn't like and it was time he got his priorities sorted. She knew just what buttons to press to get the point through.

"You didn't tell Harry the truth, did you?"

This time he visibly flinched and River paused before she answered his question.

"I'm not a witch. I have to leave. When I go back, the machine will be destroyed." With that she turned back around and was out the door and up the stairs before he could get another word in. She had told him what he needed to know and she wouldn't humour him a minute longer. The sooner he left the better.


	6. Chapter 6

_Thanks for the review, I'm glad someone likes it! Here is another chapter I'm sure you've been anticipating :)_

Chapter Six

As soon as she heard about the trip the Weasley's and Remus were taking she had formulated a plan. She had made it clear to the old man the night before that she intended to leave, and with that she expected him to make sure she was kept an eye on. Still, this was the best opportunity she would have and she would take it, she would take it or she would never leave.

River was, at that moment, propped up on her bed with a particularly thick book on her lap. This book was on potions, it was similar to what muggles would do with drugs, except they didn't make them in cauldrons but in high tech labs with microscopes. Most of the potions did what muggle drugs did, there were potions to stop infections, to help one sleep, instant death, nutrient mixers, pain killers and so on. Of course there was also the odd one, like liquid luck. How she would have liked to get her hands on that! There was no such substitute for that in muggle hospitals.

As she turned the next page her eyes lost focus and she felt a dizzy spell come on. Closing her eyes she put the book to her side and moved her legs off the bed so they were touching the wooden floor. Her stomach rolled and she dropped her head between her knees, breathing deeply. She didn't feel so well, and she knew why. Though she didn't quite fully understand the mechanics of it, she knew it was the forced core magic that was making her sick, she had felt it, pressing, squeezing when she had first awoken. But now, it was intensifying. In wizard terms, she was supposed to be a muggle, her body couldn't handle the magic it had been infused with, if it could, she WOULD be a witch. This was why there were muggles in the world, because not everyone could handle the core magic.

Taking another deep breath she got to her feet. The others would be leaving soon, after a late breakfast. Sirius, as usual, intended to spend time up with the Hippogryph, and wouldn't come looking for her for at least two or three hours. More than enough time for her to slip out and vanish into the crowd. She just hoped it would be difficult for them to track her for surly they would go after the moment she was found missing.

She listened intently as the group downstairs used the floo powder in the fireplace and called out their destination. She counted as each of them stepped through and knew they had all left the moment he house fell silent. They hadn't known whether to offer her to come or not, but, deciding since she was actually a muggle and didn't have a wand they had, instead, offered to get her a few sweats. She had thanked them, knowing she wouldn't be here when they returned and busied herself with plans on how she would get to where she needed to go. She knew she just had to get out of the house, to get away from the compressing smothering blanket of magic and she would be able to find the machine.

She had packed in a knapsack the small amount of clothing she had managed to acquire, along with some food and tools she had found (for lock picking), she had a feeling she would need them.

Waiting another ten minutes as she heard Sirius walk up the creaking stairs she slung her bag over her shoulder and gracefully, without a sound, headed to the front door. She looked around for the last time, took hold of the door handle and turned it, slipping out into the street.

So as not to attract attention she walked briskly, not stopping or turning back around until she was five streets away. She continued to wined her way through the streets, until she came across a neighbourhood, grass as green as if it had been painted, flowers sitting perfectly in line and stone statures, white and pristine enough to be brand new. She made her way to the fifth house down, knowing that it was empty. She easily scaled the fence in seconds and was by the door, inputting the security codes before anyone could see her.

The house was three stories, the stair case the colour of white Perl and magnificent. Each peace if furniture were as if it were sculptured and placed elegantly around the room. She moved to the study where she knew a spare laptop computer was kept. She would need to borrow it to make a few arrangements.

The problem with muggle technology was that it was useless around wizard magic. The combination of a wizards magic and muggle electricity was that electricity simply refused to work. It was something to do with the electrical bonds that became unstable when they meet up with core magic, so most wizards and witches didn't know how to work muggle technology, let alone know what it was used for. For those who did, and there was a minute few, muggle technology had a short life span, this being a few days at the most, if used sparingly and in a place not thick with magic. This was an advantage for River though, she couldn't control or even really use the magic she had been given, therefore she hoped she wouldn't be so destructive to technology.

Hacking into any computer system software was embedded into her mind thanks to some help from the alliance academy she had been trapped in so she could easily boot up the laptop and decrepit the password. The first order of business was to acquire money which she did by creating a sub account for one of the credit cards she would find locked in the safe upstairs. Transferring a small sum she then set about ordering a passport as flying was the fastest way she could travel. She knew now where she needed to go so she booked a one way ticket to Halifax, the perfect place to hide an energy converter, lots of forest and a shore line to skip away on a boat if the need arose.  
Even though she'd ordered her passport for the fastest delivery time and for a sizable fee in this time and age it would still take at least two days for it to arrive, she'd sent it to another address down the street who also were conveniently out of town for the holidays as she knew she needed to keep moving.

Still, she had to admit, she was exhausted after her little escapade and wanted nothing more than to take a quick sleep before she made her joinery, and seeing as she had to wait awhile for her papers, she may as well do it here, in this beautiful mansion that reminded her of what her first home had once been.

She found a smallish, spare room on the second story; semi closed the curtains and made herself comfortable, not bothering to get under the sheets. If she needed to leave, she needed to do very quickly. Her knapsack was also by the bed, her newly acquired laptop included inside. As soon as her head hit the pillow she fell into an exhausted sleep.

* * *

Severus was furious at him! Sirius had been given one job, one job! He was supposed to watch the Tam girl while the others were out and Severus had come into the dark grim house ready to slip some truth potion into the girls drink. Dumbledore had asked him to try and get any answers out of River, as she had been most uncooperative the night previous. Nothing a little drop of truth potion couldn't cure.

The house had seemed awfully quiet but he had guessed it was due to the two mostly nonspeaking occupants. Unfortunately when he grew tired of knocking politely on River's door and getting no answer, he'd opened it to see she wasn't there. He checked every room carefully through the house before storming up to the attic where Sirius had perched himself, talking to his pet Hippogryph.

"Where is the girl?" He'd demanded, making Sirius's furious as well at having him intrude into his personal space.

"What are you talking about?" He scrawled back.

"Miss Tam, she's not in the house!"

Sirius's face went blank for a moment before realization hit him. "She was in her room." He mumbled as he shoved past Severus and went for himself to see what he already knew.

Throwing open the door he looked dumbfounded at the empty bed, everything neat and perfect as if the girl hadn't been there at all.

"Where could she have gone? She has no money, no wand. She couldn't make it in either world!" Sirius threw his hands up.

Severus on the other hand whipped out his wand. "You'll need to inform Albus on the situation. I will use a tracking spell and find her." And with that he was out the door.

Breathing in the fresh air he concentrated and cast the spell. Following the tug his wand gave him hr retraced River's footsteps down the street.


	7. Chapter 7

_Hope you like this next chapter! Thanks for the review!_

Chapter Seven

Her eyes flew open as her mind reeled. Where was she? Who was she? It took a moment for her memories to come back to her. Much too much time to waste getting herself back together as she felt the presence that had awoken her creep closer.

She shot up, the sudden rush of blood to her head making her eyes spin and the room tilt. Gathering herself she rose silently from the bed, flicking her hands across the covers to make it smooth again as she listened for a noise. She could hear nothing but she didn't need to rely on that, she could feel him. His core was familiar, she knew him.

She whipped her knapsack onto her back and eased open the door, but her way was blocked. The wizard was making his way up the stairs, as silent as the darkness that enveloped the house. She retreated back into the room and looking frantically around, pushed open the window.

The nearest tree was too far for her to jump into, she would have to scale down the piping system and do so quickly, he was checking the rooms now. She eased herself through the window, making sure to close it before she grouped for the water pipe. Getting a good grip she pulled herself over and inched down. Her heart was pounding as the seconds ticked by and the moment her feet touched the ground she took off into the night once again. She knew though that the wizard who had found her would easily find her again if she wasn't more careful.

* * *

Severus cursed himself when he realized River had escaped. He had been so close, had felt her energy pulsating behind his wand, and had searched the house it had led him to thoroughly. She must have seen him, or somehow known he was close by and fled. Everything in the house had seemed fine, untouched, nothing was out of place, but on closer inspection, had discovered one of the spare beds warm to the touch but little else disturbed. For a muggle, she was smarter than the average witch. That was a compliment indeed, though he would never say it aloud.

Cursing again he knew he wouldn't be able to find her until she stopped again, right now he would have to go and report back to Albus and then get some sleep, and he was almost dead on his feet.  
Stepping out of the house, he turned and felt the usual tug as he apparated just inside Grimmuald place. As expected there was someone their waiting for him.

"Severus, did you find her?" Minerva McGonagall asked in a rush.

"Obviously, as she is not here with me, I did not." He remarked, though not in a rude way. He could tell Minerva had gotten as much sleep as him, which was none.

"Where do you think she could have gone to?" She asked

Severus pondered this. Where was she going? Serenity? Was she going to find her brother? They had little else to go on. "I'll try and find her trail again tomorrow; for now I think sleep is in order."

Minerva nodded in agreement, feeling the day weighing on her. Severus headed up the stairs to inform the other order members of his progress before he finally got some rest.

Severus had left just as the sun was rising for a new day. He had gotten little sleep that night, having his dreams interfered with thoughts of a tiny defenseless girl running down the wrong muggle streets in the dead of night. It was foolish, he knew, to dwell on such a notion. She was far from the innocent girl she portrayed.

He started off back to the house he had managed to track her down to until he'd lost her again and started afresh. It wasn't long before he was quickly pacing up and down streets and alley ways, searching through the morning crowds as they slowly built the further on time went. By the time it was almost two in the afternoon he felt more frustrated than trying to be patient with first years and their incompetence at everything.

River had weaved down every nook and cranny, every street and bend and it was annoying him to no end.

By the time the sun was setting yet again he was in a foul mood. He had better things to do then hunt down a muggle girl who didn't want to be found. He returned back to Sirius's house with the same news. He had been close at times but had been unsuccessful; this was the same with everyone else.

And so he spent another restless night, waking at another obscene hour in the hopes that she would have lingered for just too long somewhere.

Picking up from where he left off he began again, trying his best to pick up the pace. It wasn't until he'd been stalking around the streets a few hours that he realized the houses looked familiar. They looked slightly different in the daylight then they had at night, but he knew them nonetheless. River had retraced her steps back to the flasher homes but he didn't think she was simply going around in circles.

He felt her presence at a different home from the one he had almost gotten her in. It was just several spaces down, and she hadn't gone inside. Peculiar, he thought.

His wand hovered over the muggle homes letter box and it suddenly hit him! By all accounts she was a muggle, and muggles used flying machine contraptions to get from country to country the fastest they could, but they needed not just money, but identity papers as well. River had none of either, she must have been able to acquire them when she'd stayed at the other house the day he'd almost caught her, that was why she had backtracked.

He guessed that now she had what she needed, and would likely head to the muggle airport. Without a moment's hesitation he disappeared and apparated inside the muggle departure terminal unnoticed.

Sorting faces from the largely growing crowd was more difficult than he had anticipated. So many muggles packed into such a small place, shuffling back and forth.

He continued to search but could see no sign of River. Discreetly he pulled his wand from his pocket, half tugging it up the sleeve of his robe, (he really should have changed, he stuck out somewhat), he flicked it, muttering the locating spell. After a few moments it tugged him, not forwards, but back. He stopped outside the woman's toilet facilities, feeling irritated. Of all the places she would be!  
Concentrating he flicked his wand gracefully around the door, muttering spells under his breath. First he needed to clear the facilities of any muggles inside, and then he needed to make sure they wouldn't be intruded upon. They were simple muggle warding spells, and would wear off as soon as he left the area.

He stepped aside as the doors opened and three women hurried out, suddenly needing to be somewhere else. Taking one more cursory look about him quickly dashed inside.

On first glance the white porcelain room was empty but he could feel his wand humming beneath his fingers and knew River was there.

"I know you're here. Why don't you make this easier for the both of us and show yourself?" His voice bounced around the room but River made no appearance to it.

Severus went to the first cubicle and with a brisk swish of his wand; the metal door flew open unhindered. It was empty and so he moved on.

It wasn't until he came to the second end one, forced it open, that he came face to face with his quarry. He had expected her, hiding behind the door, arms raised above her head clutching a pipe or bat or something to attack with. That though was not the case; instead she sat on the floor, her head dipped, almost in defeat, her arms draped over the toilet bowl as if holding on because the ground was swaying. She raised her head weakly and he saw the exhaustion on her face.

"You'll take me back now?" She asked, unflinching from his hard gaze.

"Dumbledore is worried for you."

"He needn't be. He cannot help me." With far too much effort she forced herself to her feet, supporting herself with help from the walls.

Severus stepped closer and grabbed a hold of her arm, leading her out of the woman's room and slipping into a muggle free stairway.

River swayed unsteadily, her knapsack bouncing on her shoulder. He had no choice but to stop as her legs gave way and she fell heavily on her backside to the concrete floor. She was panting; her face was white with a fine layer of sweat apparent on her forehead. Had she been this ill before she left?

"Your ill, what have you been doing?" He asked concerned and annoyed.

River shook her head as if trying to clear away the fog. "It's the magic."

"Magic?"

"It isn't mine. I can't carry it. I'm not a witch."

"The magic, it was the wizard's that was killed?" Severus inquired.

River nodded, her head feeling awfully heavy. Maybe she should rest it, close her eyes, just for a moment.

Severus took her shoulders and shook her lightly to keep her awake. "Can it be reversed?"

"It can. But I need to get to the machine. I don't have much time." Her eyes bored into his and he saw the desperation behind them. Albus had been wrong when he'd told them they had to find the muggles responsible before they found the machine. This girl needed his help, help he was sure Albus would postpone until it was too late. She needed his help, and he cursed himself for getting into this mess in the first place.

So he would help her, but he couldn't do it alone. No, he would need another set of hands and a spare wand ready. Unfortunately, the only person he could think of that would even consider helping him without informing Dumbledore was a certain werewolf by the name of Remus Lupin.


	8. Chapter 8

_Another installment awaiting your approval :) Where should I go from here?_

Chapter Eight

He was exhausted. There was that feeling of a deep bone fatigue he had come to know so often that seemed, hardly, to ever go away. Remus, at that moment had finally managed to find a room that was not occupied by anyone else. It was tiny, squished and compacted. He suspected it had once severed as a study when the Black family besides Sirius had resided here, now though, it had no purpose.

He promptly let gravity take over and flopped onto a black, musty, probably moldy couch.  
He and several other order members had spent the last two and a half days searching for River, but to no luck. Severus was the only one who had managed to get even close to where she had gone, but he had been unsuccessful in capturing her. She had slipped through his fingers and he was even the more determined to find her.

It had seemed odd to Remus at first, the amount of interest that Severus had taken in River. He had assumed Severus felt somehow responsible for her escape and was now trying to rectify himself. He was always the last to return, having trans-versed the most terrain with hardly any sleep and an empty stomach. And after all this, they still had no idea where River would go, or where she could possibly be.

Feeling his eyelids droop and become incredibly heavy he gave into the temptation that sleep afforded him. He would nap, just for a little while, no doubt that he would soon be awoken by either someone wanting something from him, or the loud bangs and constant talking or screaming that occurred within the walls.

Indeed he had just managed to slip into a light sleep when the familiar 'pop' reverberated around the house signaling the arrival of someone else returning from the search.

Checking his watch and seeing it was only 8.20pm he sighed, annoyed, and got to his feet. When he stepped into the main foyer he was surprised to see it was Severus who had returned. Arthur came from another door, leading into the dining room, and gave Severus a curt nod. Normally if Severus were anyone else Arthur was have on his infectious smile and a pat on the back, but everyone knew that Severus was not an easily, if at all, likable guy. So Arthur kept his distance.

"Anything new?" Remus inquired before Arthur could.

Severus shot him a dark look, as usual. "No." Was all he decided to reply with.

"You're back earlier than usual. You usually search until the early hours of the morning." Remus noted lightly.

Severus chose not to respond to that remark at all. Maybe this was a bad idea, he thought. Surely there was someone else who wouldn't go tattling to Dumbledore the moment he revealed River's whereabouts. Unfortunately, there was not. He would have to do this on tip toes.

Deciding he needed something to eat he made his way to the kitchen and consumed, quite quickly, a bowl of cold vegetable soup and several pieces of bread. He was suddenly aware that Remus had followed him into the room and was trying to discreetly make himself a cup of coffee. Had he been THAT transparent?

"So where do YOU think River is heading to? Clearly she's on the move." Remus took a seat a few chairs down from Severus.

"Clearly." Severus responded aloofly.

"Where did you manage to last track her too?" Remus asked casually but Severus could hear the edge behind it.

"Around in circles. I'll have to start over tomorrow." He answered snappily.

There was an uncomfortable silence settling in the air and Remus knew that Severus was holding back.

"I can smell her on you." Remus admonished, pointing to his nose. "Super sensitive smell and all."  
Severus clenched his jaw. He listened quietly around them, judging the whereabouts of the other household members. The coast was clear, so he would talk now or Remus would go running.

"I found the girl." Severus admitted.

Remus's mouth was perched open, unsure what he had been about to say. That was far too easy. Severus had kept that fact from everyone else for a reason, so why had he so simply acknowledged it to HIM?

"Where is she? Why didn't you tell the others? What are you up to?" Remus asked in a rush.

"This conversation stays between you and I, are we at an understanding?" Severus's eyes boar into his as Remus nodded hesitantly.

"It would seem that River knows the whereabouts of the devise the muggles are using." Snape stood and placed his empty bowl into the sink and turned back to face Remus. "She's agreed to lead us to it, on the condition that she is able to return from where she came."

"Serenity?" Remus followed along. "But that's what we've been trying to do since she first got here."  
"She's under the impression that once the devise is found, it will be destroyed on sight. She wishes to use it before that happens." Severus explained.

"To turn herself back into a muggle?" It seemed odd to Remus that someone who had discovered the world of magic and had been given that gift would want so badly to remove it that they were not willing to accept help.

"It is killing her."

Remus's head snapped up to look Severus in the eyes. "Killing her?" Was he being melodramatic?

"Yes indeed, it would seem her body is rejecting the magic. She feels it would be in her best interests to get to the devise and reverse the damage before Albus does."

"She thinks Albus won't let her use it to remove the magic?"

"She believes it is in Albus's best motives to first destroy the machine and help later. By then, it will be too late and I happen to understand her reasoning." Severus could hardly believe the words coming from his mouth, but somehow, he felt compelled that this was what needed to be done.

"So you need MY help?"

He heard the chuckle in Remus's voice and clamped his jaw shut. Now was not the time for insults.

"Unfortunately I need more than one pair of hands." Severus watched Remus closely, trying to gauge his reaction.

"Alright then, I'll tell the others we're heading out for another look and we won't be back for awhile."

With that Remus got to his feet leaving Severus alone in the kitchen wondering what he had gotten himself into.

* * *

It was another half hour before the two men finally slipped away. Dark muggle coats on (so as to be less conspicuous) and wands pocketed Remus followed Severus's lead.

When they apparated, Remus took stock of his surroundings with surprise. For some reason he had expected Severus to take the girl to some shabby shack in the middle of nowhere, as it turned out, he was standing in a fairly well off section in a bug muggle city. There were several motels and hotels dotting up and down the street, ranging from average cost to the most lavish.

Severus took point, making a bee line for a hotel on a corner. It was themed in old dark wood, sharp points sticking into the air like steaks. It was also on the higher quality range which impressed Remus to no end. He wished he had that kind of money to dish out whenever he had to stay in hotels.

They headed for the back entrances, pacing quickly up a set of white pained steel stairs and onto a lengthy veranda. They didn't say a word as they continued onward, that was until Severus stopped abruptly.

Remus stopped short of bumping into the man, giving him a quizzical look and was about to ask what he was doing. Before he could do so Severus had already taken off again, or more, he flew off at breakneck speed. Remus watched as he dashed into an already ajar door and took this to mean it was where River was so he hurried in after him.

What greeted him as he stepped inside churned his stomach and sent his heart beat up a few notches.

"Was she in this room?" Remus knew it was a somewhat idiotic thing to ask but he had to be sure. Maybe out of some miracle, Severus had simply picked the wrong room.

Severus glowered at him, that being his answer and disappeared through another door.  
The room had been turned upside down. Bed sheets littered the ground along with everything else that hadn't been bolted down. Draws were ransacked even though they held no belongings, even the beds had been turned over.

Severus returned, his face panic stricken as he wheeled around the room again. "They must have found and taken her. I was gone for no more than an hour, they must have been watching." He spoke frantically pulling his wand from his pocket and casting a spell.

Remus pulled out his own wand, knowing without explanation what Severus was doing. They had to find River but he wondered if tracking spells would work here. These muggles were smart; he knew they wouldn't take any chances.

It was true that certain herbs or potions could confuse tracking spells long enough for the spell to be ineffective but he didn't know if the muggles had that kind of knowledge, they didn't know much about the muggles at all to be honest.

"I'll search north, you go south." Severus monitored and took off into the slowly growing darkness.

Gripping his wand tighter then needed Remus followed Severus's command and took off down the opposite street, every one of his sensors trained and poised. He hoped they would find River before anything grievous befell her.


	9. Chapter 9

_Thanks for another encouraging review! No matter how may times a proof read the chapters, something always slips through! :) Hope you like this one, It seems to have taken another different direction!_

Chapter Nine

She didn't know how much time had passed when she finally came to. The first thing River became aware of was the numbness. It wrapped itself, like a snake coils, around her spine, immobilizing her body. She couldn't move.

She could hear the restless pace of someone as they strode back and forth near her and the even breathing of someone else even closer to her side. It was almost like they were hovering, waiting for he to wake.

Deciding it would make little difference when she choose to announce her regain to consciousness she opened her eyes, immediately resting them on the man by her bedside.

He was a tall man, lean and well built, no doubt to the endless hours he honed his muscles for. His hair was a bright blond, almost white and his complexion was pale, though not unhealthy.

"I was beginning to wonder if they used too much sedative." He smiled, his voice like silk and yet as sharp as broken glass. She could feel the ill intent seeping from him. His name was Brendan and nothing good would come from him.

"You must be frightened, I know. It cannot be easy. Being wanted by so many." He continued as he stood, circling her sterile bed like a vulture. "But you see, you are extremely valuable to me. What you are, what you have become."

River knew what he implied; this was the man who had taken her from Serenity, but by accident, a fluke. He did not seem to understand, to know, just exactly what he HAD done.

"I thought it would be difficult to find you, being protected by those wizards. But you have made it very easy for me, and for that I am grateful."

River wanted nothing more than to punch him in the face, to wipe the smirk that marred his features, but she couldn't even talk. It was not just sedatives that held her down, her muscles were unresponsive. No doubt thanks to a muscle relaxant. He wasn't taking any chances that she would get away again.

"I'm sure you're confused. I am too, if that's any conciliation." He continued. "You see, I didn't expect to find you alive, when my people reported they'd found you, I just had to see you for myself."

There was a quite knock on the door to the other side of the room. "Mr. Kroff, sir." A young man dressed in a white coat entered, a brown folder clutched in his hands to which he handed over to Brendan. He opened it, looked at it briefly before throwing it back, seemingly unimpressed.

"Dispose of them, that it all." Brendan said as the man rushed from the room keeping his head down. "Attempt number eleven." He walked his way back around to River's right, where she had first seen him when she woke, and leaned over until he was mere inches from her. "He went quicker than the last one, you see, when I infuse a non-magic person with magic from a witch or wizard, they don't stay alive for very long. Of course the witch or wizard dies instantly and the other not more than an hour before they too follow. That is, except for you. Why is that do you suppose?"

River could not answer even if she had wished to. Instead she gazed up into his eyes, her stare blank but heavy. Her eyes were becoming too weighted down to keep open as the sedative continued to work its way through her blood.

"I know, it's odd isn't it? But you will tell me why, one way or another. And when I know your secret, I will make an army. Dumbledore and his Ministry of wizards will control us no longer. I know all about him." He said, seeing the brief flicker of surprise in River's eyes. "I would be a fool not to know who my enemy was. When I know what makes the magic stay with you and not kill you, the wizard world will crumble."

River's eyelids could no longer be held open by sheer will and so she drifted into unconscious, hoping against hope that she would wake again.

* * *

She floated in a sea of abyss, deep blue water flowing like silk caressing her skin as she sunk down into the darkness of the ocean depth. She felt the gentle tug of the currents pulling her, navigating her through a passage of memories. Only the memories were not her own.

She closed her eyes, basking in the silence as the images continued in the distance. She didn't even realize she had stopped flowing until someone shook her, and not gently.

"River?" His voice was unfamiliar and yet she felt she knew him.

She opened her eyes as a short man with sandy colored hair, high cheekbones and a long flowing black robe smiled with relief at her.

"I thought I'd never be able to wake you." He continued to smile and River took notice of the room she was in. It was not the tranquil ocean she had slipped into but instead a blindly white one that would have made her eyes sore if she were actually awake. But she was not, and yet this was not a dream.

The room was small and square, with two doors at opposite ends. One door was made of metal, the other of wood. Other then themselves, the room was void of all else.

"River?" The man asked again, capturing her attention.

"I know you." Her voice was steady and sure.

He nodded. "I am Carry Dervon."

"You are the wizard that died to give me magic." River understood now why she knew him. He was a part of her now. He had made her whole.

He nodded again, but his eyes betrayed him. "This is your mind. This is where I reside. But I cannot stay here, you understand why."

River got to her feet, her eyes not leaving his. "I understand." He couldn't stay because the magic was killing her.

"You need to let me go." Carry prompted.

River scrunched her face as she took a step back. "I can't. They did this to me! I have to find the machine."

"No, you don't need it for that." Carry stepped to her right, leaving the space between them with open honest arms. "You can release me, you've always been able to."

"But I don't know how!" She threw her hands to her sides in exasperation.

"But you do. The only reason you are still alive right now, the only reason I am here, is because when you came into this world, you were broken. My magic made you whole, but it is also that which is killing you. You need to let me go, for your life, and for the lives Brendan Kroff and his people have taken. They will not stop."

Silent tears rolled from her cheeks as she felt the pointless loss of life around her. "But I will be broken again."

Carry nodded somberly. "You don't belong here and neither do I."

River clamped her eyes shut, knowing the truth of his words. "I understand now." Without question she moved to the left of the room, her arm outstretched as she took a hold of the doorknob to the metal door for metal was her domain, it was where she had come from, and where she would return to.

"When you release me, I will purge the drugs from your system. The sedatives and muscle relaxants will be nullified. You must move quickly, but I will send help." Carry moved silently to the wooden door, his hand poised and ready to twist the knob.

River turned to him for the last time. "Thank you." She whispered as their doors opened and he smiled, his face peaceful as it faded from her mind and body.

In a rapid burst of released energy he was gone and River stepped through the door and away from her now once again broken mind and slipped back into reality.


	10. Chapter 10

_Sorry to say I am coming to the end of this story. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I wonder how it will end?_

Chapter Ten

Brendan sat in his office surrounded by folders and scattered pieces of paper. It was a simple room, he believed in simple and effectiveness, nothing fancy or over the top. It was impracticable that way.  
To the right side of the storm cloud gray colored room the wall was covered in small televisions, all hooked up to a different cameras patrolling the premises. The moment one of these cameras went off line or was hacked into an alarm would sound and the base patrols would surround all valuable areas.

Every few minutes Brendan would look up from the reports he was reading to glance at the screens, for his own minds security. He was currently looking at River's tests. Blood analysis, bone marrow samples, hair samples and everything the doctors could come up with. Unfortunately, they had found nothing out of the ordinary that would explain the fact that she was still alive when no one else had been able to survive the energy transfusion.

There was a sharp knock on his door and he watched as one of the doctors he knew quite well handed him another brown folder.

"You may want to take a look at this sir."

With interest Brendan reached over his desk and took the file with anticipating hands, instantly flicking it open. Inside where brain scans, River's, and they told a most startling tale.

"Her skull has been cut into before and more than just once. There are several scars here." He ran his finger along the white lines visible on the image as the doctor walked to his side to per.

"There is trace in her hair samples of several psycho-tropical drugs and a few we have yet to identify. From what I can see, this is nothing short of a lobotomy done many times over."

"Is she psychotic?" Brendan asked.

"Honestly we've found no indication of such, her brain isn't diseased but if you'll look at the next scan I'm sure you'll come to question how she's still alive."

Flipping over the image Brendan squinted closely at it, not sure if he had it round the right why. "What is this?"

The doctor took it from his hands and pointed to a spot at what Brendan assumed was the front base of the brain, only something wasn't right. "If you'll look here, sir, you'll notice her amygdala has been stripped."

"What does it do?"

"That part of the brain is where we think emotions are stored, or more or less, sorted. It's theorized to be a sort of buffer, like when you get sad, you can focus your brain on something else and push that feeling aside." The doctor explained.

"So we can live without it?"

"That's just the thing, sir, we can't. How she's still sane is another question altogether."

"Could this be how she can accept the magical energy?" Brendan's mind was racing. Had they found the answers he had so desperately been wanting?

"It's possible but we don't have the skill for this."

Brendan stood from his desk, his hands holding his weight as he leaned over the table to where the doctor had re-positioned himself. "You're one of the best doctors in the world, that's why you're here. Are you that incompetent?" His voice lowered dangerously.

"No sir" The doctor defended himself with a shaky voice. "It's just that this has never been done before, as far as anyone, including the rest of the staff, knows about. But it's not just the surgery, we think she has something else inside her brain as well, microscopically perfectly placed strips of metal but without cutting open her skull ourselves, we can't know for sure."

"Then what are you waiting for? Do what you need to do to get me the answers."

As Brendan stuffed the scans back into the folder the screeching sounds of the security alarms blared around the room and he snapped his head his television sets, three of which were filled with static.

"Security breach in section two, all personal report. I repeat, security breach in section two." The voice blared over the speaker phones as the two men rushed from the room, heading in opposite directions.

Brendan headed for one of the many weapons stashes located around the base. There was no doubt in his mind that the wizards had found them at last and he had to wonder of the girl hadn't been a Trojan horse.

* * *

At that moment Remus and Severus were cursing themselves for tripping the alarms. They had quietly blasted away the muggle monitoring devices only to have the entire base alerted to their presence.

"Remind me again why I bothered to bring you along?" Severus sneered as they moved quickly down the corridors.

"You'd really leave me behind and let me miss all the fun?" Remus joked and cast a knock out spell as several armed guards rounded the corner.

As they reached the end Severus looked both ways, trying to judge what route to take. "This would be easier if we knew where to go."

Remus knelt down and ruffled through the guard's pockets until he found what he was looking for. Scribbled down in the guards own handwriting was a rough map, most likely because they shifted around so often this particular guard got lost.

He scanned the piece of paper, memorizing the path to what was labeled as 'medical - occupants'.

"It's this way." Remus took point and headed to the left, Severus following without question behind him.

It didn't take long for them to get into the medical section. They had dispatched three more muggle guard obstacles on their way without too much worry but both knew more would come so they quickened the pace.

Barreling down a few doors, they came across an occupied room, with a few men dressed in white coats which Severus knew to be the traditional garb for muggle doctors. Stunning one of the two Severus pointed his wand at the other. "River Tam, you will take us to her, or you'll find your hands become hooves."

To make his point clear he muttered a hasty spell and pointed it to the other sleeping doctor. The man stared in horror as his comrades' nose arched forward, hairs erupting in pinpricks and half his face turning a pig pink color. Severus had just given him a temporary pig's nose, but he didn't need to tell the other doctor it was temporary.

The man raised his mans. "She's this way."

They followed behind as the doctor lead them down another series of corridors before coming to a halt before the next one. "I don't understand." He mumbled, more to himself then Remus or Severus.

Severus cut in front of him and was surprised to see the door had been knocked open from the inside, the bed was empty.

"There's no way she could have gotten out on her own. We gave her sedatives and muscle relaxants."

Remus shoved his wand roughly into the man's back. "Where's the machine?"

The doctor didn't need asking twice and lead them away again. Severus was becoming more and more anxious until his attention was suddenly diverted elsewhere. He could feel, reverberating just beyond the walls, an energy he had never felt before. It's cool, hard presence pushed into his mind and he knew instantly that this was what they had been searching for.

"Can you feel that?" Remus asked, just as awestruck.

Severus simply nodded and they pushed forward, flinging open the double doors at the end of the corridor.

The sight that unfolded before them made their breaths catch. The machine was enormous. It reached to the ceiling, as tall as two men standing on top the other. It snaked, with cords interloped into different sockets, around the room. It was round, white in some places, transparent in others, spinners and wheels visible, turning and grinding. And yet the power it radiated was strange, and foreign.

Their were four men maintaining the machine, by the looks of it, and they paced back and forth stealing glances at the pit-teat figure in the middle of the room. This was where River stood, he gaze also upon the device as she looked up onto its exterior. The magical energy that had once radiated from her did so no longer, it would seem she had managed to remove this without their help.

Severus took a step towards her, his arm outreached ready to grab her and run until the doors behind them flew open again and a blond, well built man armed to the teeth in muggle fire arms strode in followed by, most likely, half the encampment.

"You're not going anywhere." He smiled, a look or pure sadistic pleasure crossing his face as his men circled the room.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Human life is precious, It knew this. And yet It took it, without question, without hesitancy as It could do no other such thing. It was a machine, at least that's what It understood on It's level.

It towered in the room, It's back to the wall, lifelines like blood pumped into It's core. It's insatiable appetite feed by an unlimited energy supply managed not only from electricity but from the living energy it had been given by the humans. But these humans were different than the ones who controlled It. They did not have the same energy, in fact in was hardly present in them at all, so It had been made for the purpose of the 'exchange'. It took the energy from one, and gave it to another. But in the process, that human's heart would no longer beat, and the other would soon follow as It had discovered.

Still, It had continued, unable to do anything else for it had not been programmed.

At that moment in time It's room was full. The humans had gathered along with the energy humans. It did not understand the reason for their intrusion. It was not yet time for another 'exchange' and It did not do this with multiple people. It wasn't until something touched It, felt inside It that It knew this moment in time was different than any other.

A human mind touched It's and for a moment, a brief moment, it felt, truly felt. This was the human it had completed It's first 'exchange' with. Strange, as this one was still living. That did not occur otherwise.

A ripple, like a pebble on a dead sea stirred through It's processing banks. It wavered before feeling another ripple and a feeling burst silently though the surface.

It was longing. This human felt longing. A longing to return to the place It had ripped her from. But It did not know if It could do such a thing again. It had been and infant in the past. Now through, with the energy 'exchanges' it had completed, It had grown into something else. Maybe It could send her back, then she would not feel this longing.

Another pebble, another ripple. This feeling was a wave, an emotion so overpowering It's energy mind faulted. She felt anger. Anger for the lives lost caused by It's construction and the present company that used It. This feeling was similar to the destructive force of fire It had once witnessed as the flames had licked and destroyed.

This small being felt such force and It could not refuse her request. It would be better this way. It would take no more life.

It drew upon the lifelines, sucking energy from It's suppliers as It began to compress Itself, tighter and tighter, until It drew in upon Itself and took the human girl back go her place of longing.

* * *

Severus stood just a few meters away from the man he had gathered was the driving force behind the contraption that perched high above and behind him. He hadn't known quite what to expect, some scientist who'd gone mad perhaps or muggle government officials on a power trip. Truthfully, this guy did look kind of insane, scary too, what with all the lethal muggle weapons strapped over his body. So you could imagine that this wasn't the place he wanted to be at right now.

He'd tried thinking of possible computations that would help in their escape, but none sprang to mind at the moment. Just typical.

Remus stood to his left, wand at the ready for the inevitable fight that was sure to follow.

"If you have any brilliant escape plans, now would be the time to use them." Remus joked but Severus hardly thought now was the time.

"I'm afraid I'm all out." He snidely replied and peeked a glance behind him. River continued to stand staring at the machine without any regard to the situation.

"Gentlemen, I can see I'm interrupting something?" Brendan smirked, a few of the guards also smiled at his remark. "I thought you wizards were better than this."

"Really, and I'm sure you thought you really could make a hybrid muggle-wizard army." Remus smirked right back as Brendan's face changed remarkably fast into a cold calculating glare. Apparently he hadn't liked that.

"And now I can add two new participants." Brendan flicked his hand out, signalling his men who had been awaiting his command to aim their already raised weapons.

Both Severus and Remus tensed as a voice broke the silence. It took a moment for Severus to realize it was River that had spoken.

"Pulling, twisting, and turning. Home. It will take me home."

She hadn't said it to anyone in particular, more like a stray thought that had leaked out. It actually sounded somewhat creepy but he couldn't put his mind onto why.

"You will lower your wands now, or my men will fill your bodies with bullets. Do you know what those are?" Brendan asked, choosing to ignore River for the present.

"I think not." Severus answered sharply.

"Have it your way then."

Severus took a quick breath, the knockout spell floating into his mind and on the tip of his tongue, not that these men deserved such a painless takedown.

He hesitated the moment something to the right if his vision blurred into action.

River had reacted before anyone else had a chance react. With smooth precision and effectiveness she moved from trained solider to trained soldier, dispatching them with a few swift hits and kicks. Her moves were so graceful, so trained that Severus found it difficult to keep up with her. He could hear Remus, now behind him as he muttered spells, taking out some of the other soldiers, but he needn't have worried. River was more than efficient by herself.

Severus held his ground as Brendan, who had managed to stay out of River's way aimed his gun for him. Severus also aimed his wand and fired the spell before Brendan could fire the gun. Brendan ducked to the left, diving for covered as the spell hit the man who had stood behind him, his own weapon falling beside his unmoving hand.

Brendan scurried to the side, just as Severus was about to aim another spell River somersaulted through the air, her hand easily picking up one of the abandoned firearms. She sank purposefully to her knees, and before Severus had the time to even draw his breath, she had fired four shots.  
The bangs resonated around the walls before it fell silent. Severus could see quite clearly each of River's shots had reached their mark. There were four men who would never get up again, and Brendan was one of them. A bullet had been placed impeccably between his unblinking eyes.

Remus stepped forward his hand outstretched, looking at River in another light. "It's alright River, just give me the gun."

River didn't seem to hear him though, her grip went slack and the offending weapon felt from her grasp. She peered about the room, as if listening to something. "I can't breathe!" She gasped. "Into the black."

Remus stopped, the gun no longer a threat, he was now unsure how handle her. "River?" He took another tentative step.

Her eyes whipped to meet his and they stared unseeing, lost.

Severus stepped forward then, intercepting with his wand re-raised. Something told him they would no longer get sensible meaning from her, but he would not leave until he understood.

He moved his wand in the complicated movements that prompted the mind reading spell and pushed his mind to River's.

Instantly he impacted a brick wall, her defences so strong he thought he'd never get through. But she wavered, cracks and missing bricks showing. Taking a breath he pushed down her defence and stumbled back.

Her memories were completely overpowering. He saw a flash of a little girl running through a large well decorated home, an older boy chasing after her in a playful manner. It flickered and another image took its place. The same girl and boy sitting in a lounge as they touched screens that flickered with images and words. The young girl standing impatiently tossing the screen to the side and interrupting the boy and pointing to the screen he held shaking her head. They both laughed.

The memory vanished as quickly as it had come, replaced instead by a cold sterile room. Men stood around a slightly younger River who was restrained to a metal chair. There were cords and wires attached to her head and one of the men pressed buttons as she screamed out on terror.

Severus was thrown back again before he was bombarded by another image. A man leaned forward, the sincerest look of love and concern covering his young warn features that Severus had ever seen. The man squeezed River's hand and told her everything would be alright now. She was safe.

Severus finally managed to pull himself from River's mind, gasping for breath. It took him a moment to understand what it was he had just seen. River's memories were so vivid, filled with so much abuse and pain. She lived in a world far different than any Severus had ever witnessed. And yet, she would do anything to get back there, all for her brother and her newly acquired family. He also understood what had been done to her, that she was no longer then girl they had gotten to know over the past few days, he doubted that that girl would ever surface again.

Turning to Remus he waved his hand over the still breathing guards. "We need to get everyone out of here, the machine it going implode."

Without question Remus nodded and quickly gathered a few muggles in reach before he apparated out of the compound. A few moments later he 'popped' back and took hold of another.

Severus turned back to River who was once again focused on the machine. "It will take you back?"

"It will take me back." She repeated, without moving her gaze.

"It won't always be like this."

"Every things dark. Simon will make me better. I'll get better." Her voice wavered, as if she were trying to convince herself of this more than Severus.

"You'll get better." He whispered before turning and re-appearing several yards from the nearest main road.

Remus brushed past a tree, breathing bodies littered at his feet. "Where's River?"

It was then that a rumble vibrated through the ground, shaking the forest. They could hear in the distance the crackle of fire and the falling of trees as they were hit by the impact of the blast.

"She wouldn't come." Severus answered Remus and turned on his heels, heading back out into civilization.

No body else needed to know what he had seen in her mind, that she hadn't been from this world at all, but a world in the sky. Perhaps it was their future, perhaps it was something else entirely. Either way, everyone would believe she had perished with the others who had been killed today. Everyone but Severus.

* * *

The machines last borrowed energy propelled her forward and held her breath as the light danced around her body. The streaks of energy ripped their way through space until they found what they had been searching for.

Her name was Serenity. She rested on the far side of a seemingly ordinary moon, populated by a colony who had settled not so long ago.

As the energy dissipated she felt the familiar contours of the ship, the hum of the engine, the creak of the moving metal and the breathing of its occupants.

When she opened her eyes she recognized imminently she was in the cargo bay, a few creates stacked here and there. She stood, peering around and it wasn't long before she heard the footsteps of another coming her way.

As the doors swished open she came to see the familiar friendly face of her brother Simon as he visibly sighed in relief. "Where have you been River? It's time to eat." He ushered her along and she followed obediently. "What have you been up to? I haven't seen you for several hours!"

River smiled to herself. "I made some new friends." She responded cryptically.

Simon gave a somewhat worried smile and continued onwards choosing to ignore her response.  
River was glad the machine had returned to close to the time frame she had been taken from, it would have been difficult to explain her whereabouts to a believing listener. She was just glad she was home now. This was home. This was her home.

THE END

_I hope you enjoyed reading this little bit of fanfiction. Please let me know what you think, perhaps I'll get started on another !_


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